At War
by hhfanx2
Summary: H/Hr. Oneshot. Not fluffy. Hermione and Harry are battling it out. No, not with their wands.


At War

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H/Hr. Turns into Harry's POV after the third-person intro. It is kind of weird writing from a guy's POV. eghh. From now on I think I'll stick to 3rd person. Or maybe Hermione's POV. Inspired while doing an essay analysis assignment on a piece titled "A Game of Tennis." Considering how I'm a tennis nut, I was thoroughly disappointed after reading it. Don't ask. Anyway, this fic is a little odd in the sense that you have to really read into it, imho. It's deep. No, I'm kidding. It's just...different. Please, open your mind while reading this. I just really felt like spewing words, so I typed this up. It's kind of half-assed. Sorry!

...

Their two mentalities clashed, resisting each other's domination.

Hermione didn't think it logical to risk their friendship by trying their hand at a romantic relationship. She wanted to remain best friends simply because she couldn't survive if they ever damaged or lost the friendship they so desperately relied on to sleep easy at night. Harry, on the other hand, didn't care much for logic or practicality; he just wanted their relationship to blossom into something more. He was willing to throw caution into the wind because his instincts told him that they had the potential to be perfect soulmates.

So, they spent days upon days in heated debate trying to persuade the other to give in.

It was more than a debate. It was more than two people trying to make each other abandon their beliefs.

It was Ration vs Passion.

It was a war. It was a verbal war in which both sides just wouldn't step down.

Yes, that's right - Hermione nd Harry were at war. 

...

I sighed my millionth sigh of exasperation today. It was Hermione and my what, 9th? 10th? 11th? day of debating over whether we should become more than friends. Girlfriend and boyfriend, if you will. "Hermione, don't you see? I love you, and you love me. A relationship _will _work." I silently begged for her to agree.

"Harry, don't _you_ see? What if we're wrong? I know, right now we believe that we feel strongly for each other, but...we haven't even identified the cause of it. We can't jump into things blindly and just call it 'love'. We don't know anything for sure..." She looked at me, her eyes seemingly pleading for me to give in.

"Romeo and Juliet, they were, what, about our age? They knew for sure that they loved each other. They _committed suicide_ for each other. Now, I hope we 're never _that_ extreme, but my point is, they were young, and they knew they were in love..."

"Yeah, but they _killed_ themselves. Doesn't that show their immaturity? Maybe it was puppy love that they mistook for true love. Maybe what we seem to be feeling is just puppy love. Maybe it's nothing more than our strong friendship. Maybe it's a passing infatuation that's just taking a tad too long to pass. Maybe our hormones are wreaking havoc because of the change in weather..." 

I studied her beautiful face. Why was she being so stubborn? Couldn't she see what we had? "But I'm _so sure _I love you. And besides, you have to understand that Shakespeare liked to write those tragedies, didn't he? You know, all those tragic heroes? Hermione, you take Muggle Studies, you should know about his works. It's not a Shakespearean tragedy if people don't die. So he decided to have the kids kill themselves out of love. Big deal. It's just a story."

"Exactly. Just a story. Just because two teens our age supposedly fell deeply in love _in a story_, doesn't mean that it ever happens in real life. Doesn't mean that that's what's happening to us. We're not even sure if what we seem to be feeling is love, or is something even worth trying to have a relationship with. I mean, if we remain best friends, at least if this...this _feeling _passes, we'll not have damaged our friendship." 

Ok. So she got me on the Romeo and Juliet argument, just like she did with my "best friends make the best relationship/romance" argument a few days ago. (Hermione had countered with, "_No_, Harry, best friends make the best _friendship_.") But I'm not giving in or giving up. I'll just have to switch tactics. "But if we've never been in love before, how would we be able to determine whether what we're feeling is _not _love? We'd have no experience to compare it to." I paused, then I added, "And no textbooks to find the answers." I grinned inwardly. Books were Hermione's source of answers to everything. This bout was mine. I was one step closer to getting Hermione to throw in the towel.

But Hermione didn't waver. "You're right." Excitedly, I quickly looked at her in anticipation, ready to collect her in my arms upon victory. She continued, shrugging her shoulders dramatically, "We _wouldn't_ have any experience. We've never _been in love_, so how would we know if this _is_ it? It works both ways, Harry."

My shoulders slumped. "Well, I guess love is about taking some risks."

"But they're not even calculated risks! If we do take this big risk, and everything goes horribly wrong, not only will it be terribly difficult for us to face each other honestly, but we might even detest each other, heaven forbid...Think about our friendship...It's not worth risking, in my opinion..."

I ran a hand through my hair, collecting my thoughts, buying myself time. "Sometimes, Hermione, if it's really important, you just take that risk, and deal with things as they come."

"But Harry, preserving and nurturing our friendship is very important to me. And besides, it's not very logical to just 'deal with things as they come', you know. We have to anticipate possible consequences of our actions in order to be able to prepare ourselves to deal with them. That'd be the logical thing to do, which is the message I'm trying to get to you."

I swear, she was going to drive me to tears of frustration soon. "Oh, to hell with logic!" I exclaimed, not knowing what else to say, not having anymore arguments at my disposal for the day. 

I sighed. I wondered when this would be over.

...

Both sides were unyielding. This was war. And it continued like this for days. I had to give it to Ron - he was smart. He stayed with Dean, Seamus and Neville while we - his two best friends - duked it out.

...

I don't know what hit me, but one day I looked at Hermione, who had fallen asleep while we were working on our Transfiguration essays. Then it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. 

I was going to kiss her. Maybe it'd change her mind.

Yes, I knew she was asleep and couldn't resist or retaliate. Yes, I knew we'd been fighting with words all along. But you know what they say, that all's fair in love and war? 

Well, I'd be damned if this wasn't love, and I'd eat my essay if this wasn't a war I was determined to win.

So this was fair. I was safe.

And with that, I kissed her, gently attacking her lips with an ardent firepower I never knew I possessed. Fire spread through my body at the moment of contact. A fever never felt better.

She moaned softly and her eyes fluttered open. It took her a second before she spoke. "That's not fair, Harry. I was asleep."

"It's what I call a surprise attack. An ambush, if you will." I gazed at her, absorbing her absolute perfection, wishing and hoping beyond hope that she'd surrender to the sheer intensity of our feelings.

"Well, it worked," she said, looking at me in a way that reduced me to a spluttering, stuttering mess - a typical guy in love.

"Y-you...wh-wha--?" I gaped at her with immense disbelief at what my ears have just heard.

She smiled. "I surrender, Harry. You win."

I blinked, and then her kiss was gracing my soul, giving me goosebumps, making my mind race, warming me to the very core - causing me to lose control of my own self. 

I'd won Hermione's love, but she sure as hell had won my very existence. 

I smiled as we kissed. I knew Hermione would save her most potent attack for last. And I didn't mind surrendering myself to her at all. 

The war was finally over.


End file.
